An escalation in fighting between Indonesian security forces and Papuan separatist armed groups in West Papua has threatened the security of the largely Indigenous population, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday, May 29, 2025.

Security forces’ military operations in the densely forested Central Highlands areas have allegedly killed and injured dozens of civilians with drone strikes and indiscriminate use of explosive munitions. The National Liberation Army of West Papua, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, has claimed responsibility in the killing of 17 alleged miners between April 6 and April 9, 2025.

“The Indonesian military has a long history of abuses in West Papua that poses a particular risk to the Indigenous communities,” Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said.

“Concerned governments need to press the Prabowo administration and Papuan separatist armed groups to abide by the laws of war.” she added.

The fighting escalated after the attack on the alleged miners, which the armed group accused of being targeted soldiers or military informers. The Indonesian military escalated its ongoing operations, called Operation Habema, in West Papua’s six provinces, especially in the Central Highlands, where Papuan militant groups have been active for over four decades.

On May 14, the military said that it had killed 18 separatist fighters in Intan Jaya regency, and that it had recovered weapons including rifles, bows and arrows, communications equipment, and Morning Star flags, the symbol of Papuan resistance. Further military operations have allegedly resulted in burning down villages and attacks on churches. Papuan activists and pastors told Human Rights Watch that government forces tend to treat all Papuan forest dwellers who own and routinely use bows and arrows for hunting as combatants.

Information about abuses has been difficult to corroborate because the hostilities are occurring in remote areas in Intan Jaya, Yahukimo, Nduga, and Pegunungan Bintang regencies. Pastors, church workers, and local journalists interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that Indonesian forces have been using drones and helicopter gunships to drop bombs.

Civilians from the Korowai tribe community, known for their tall treehouse dwellings, have been harmed in these attacks, and have desperately fled the fighting. Displaced villagers, mostly from Intan Jaya, have sought shelter and refuge in churches in Sugapa, the capital of the regency.

The armed group has made allegations, which Human Rights Watch could not corroborate, that the Indonesian military attacks harmed civilians. It reported that a mortar or rocket attack outside a church in Ilaga, Puncak regency, hit two young men on May 6, killing one of them, Deris Kogoya, an 18-year-old student.

The group said that the Indonesian military attack on May 14, in which the military claimed all 18 people killed were separatist combatants, mostly killed civilians. Ronald Rischardt Tapilatu, pastor of the Evangelical Christian Church of the Land of Papua, said that at least 3 civilians were among the 18 bodies. Human Rights Watch has a list of the 18 killed, which includes 1 known child.

The daughter of Hetina Mirip said that her mother was found dead on May 17 near her house in Sugapa, while Indonesian soldiers surrounded their village. She wrote that the soldiers tried to cremate and bury her mother’s body. A military spokesman denied the shooting.

One evident impact of the renewed fighting is that thousands of Indigenous Papuans have been forced to flee their ancestral lands. The Vanuatu-based United Liberation Movement for West Papua reported that the military had attacked seven villages in Ilaga with drones and airstrikes, forcing many women and children to flee their homes. Media reports said that it was in Gome, Puncak regency.

International humanitarian law obligates all warring parties to distinguish at all times between combatants and civilians. Warring parties are required to take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians and civilian objects, such as homes, shops, and schools. Attacks may target only combatants and military objectives. Attacks that target civilians or fail to discriminate between combatants and civilians, or that would cause disproportionate harm to the civilian population compared to the anticipated military gain, are prohibited.

The Free Papua Movement has long sought self-determination and independence in West Papua, on the grounds that the Indonesian government-controlled “Act of Free Choice” in 1969 was illegitimate and did not involve Indigenous Papuans. It advocates holding a new, fair, and transparent referendum, and backs armed resistance.

The conflict areas, including Intan Jaya, are on the northern side of Mt. Grasberg, spanning a vast area from Sugapa to Oksibil in the Pegunungan Bintang regency, approximately 425 kilometers long. Sugapa is also known as the site of Wabu Block, which holds approximately 2.3 million kilograms of gold, making it one of Indonesia’s five largest known gold reserves. Wabu Block is currently under the licensing process of the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.